GRIEFBOT
ELIXIR AI — Marlynn Wei - works by Marlynn Wei
marlynnwei.com
This theatre analogy is not perfect. Unlike human actors, chatbots are not physically present. They do not make conscious choices about how to portray characters or co-construct meaning with their audience. Nevertheless, this framework is useful because it clarifies and accentuates the relation between chatbots and the deceased. Actors are neither ... See more
Amy Kurzweil • Are chatbots of the dead a brilliant idea or a terrible one? | Aeon Essays
As a Latine person for whom Día de los Muertos is part of the culture, Culber might find speaking with the dead a familiar concept. In China, one reason for the acceptance of AI ghosts might be the tradition of honoring and engaging with one’s ancestors. In contrast, the creepiness that Martha feels, and that I share, might arise from our Western c... See more
Craig Klugman • Griefbots Are Here, Raising Questions of Privacy and Well-being
“If the dead are virtually memorialized, they never really die. The more in-depth the memorial and the greater its permanence, the more the deceased remain with the living.”36
A. Lewis • Digital Death: Mortality and Beyond in the Online Age: Mortality and Beyond in the Online Age
Left to themselves, these mourners chose a short-term tool to help them deal with loss. They did not want to recreate a loved one to keep them at their side for life.
Do ‘Griefbots’ Help Mourners Deal With Loss?
This shift from chatbotsas companions to tools of artistic remembrance deflates many common concerns. From this vantage point, we can see that chatbot ‘actors’ do not necessarily aim at realism. They cannot and will not capture a deceased person fully. They do not delude users into behaving as if the dead are still alive or believing that they are ... See more
Amy Kurzweil • Are chatbots of the dead a brilliant idea or a terrible one? | Aeon Essays
This feels naive — how could any engineer possibly guarantee that a user will not emotionally imprint onto a chatbot? Especially if that emotional attachment is explicitly what the grieving user is seeking?
Technology Impact Cycle Tool :: A Griefbot-app
tict.io
Many critics view this technological endeavour as an especially abject form of death denial. A common objection to these bots is that emotionally vulnerable users may become so invested in their interactions that they will conflate their chatbot with the deceased person, or lose sight of the fact that the person is gone. As the philosopher Patrick ... See more